Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for February 07, 2012

Could read a book…

Not to worry. If worst comes to worst// Horse meat is not that bad.

In the potty in the dark?

Aren’t they in Maine? Gotta be prepared in Maine, in winter, don’t you? Like in California for earthquakes, but with more firewood and lanterns.

Braille.What? You don’t have a supply of books in Braille, just in case the lights go out?

there was a time when my college roommate and I were (gasp) behind on our utility bills and they shut off our power for a week and a half or so.

we did a lot of reading by candlelight. It was actually quite pleasant.

until we realized that no power meant that the contents of the freezer rapidly spoiled. that was not so pleasant. I actually employed the “VapoRub under the nose” trick from “Silence of the Lambs” to do the cleanup after we paid off ConEd…

Dad will fire up the generator, any minute now!

As long as they’re on municipal water, the toilets will still flush at least. (Those of us in the country don’t have water when the electricity goes out.) If Lucy has to Go outside, well… start tunnelling!!

Warm up the seat fuzz butt.

Where does Lucy usually go? Outside? Man that snow must have come down quickly, in one big plop…

@StrangeTikiGod: “…after we paid off ConEd.”Well, you can fool some of the people all the time, and you can fool all of the people some of the the time…but you can’t con ed!

It can always get worse. The power could be out for days.

Power outages are fine, unless it is all of 12 degrees outside.

Someone did invent a braille printer (dot matrix head placed next to the keyboard as a monitor replacement). Only output 1 character at a time in serial. Made backspacing something of a challenge.

Get out the chamber pots.

Get out the flashlight!

Lost power on Nov. 30 at 8PM in that LA windstorm, got it back (mostly) Dec. 3 at around 6AM.Millivolt Thermostats are ancient, but wonderful! (The heater still works!)If it’s off too long, municipal water won’t get pumped up into the reservoirs.And coolant for the nukes won’t keep going once the Diesel runs out.A big old glass jar, with a pillar candle and pack of matches in it, makes a fine hurricane lantern.A 5-gal contractor’s bucket, pack of trash bags, and porta-potty deodorant are good to have in the garage, next to those washed-out milk jugs with the bleach (just a capful) and water.

Didn’t she have some issues with Wikipedia a while back?.(blackout)

Hurricane Ike, 125 people in a shelter, no power, no water, no toilets, for 3 weeks. = No fun.

Considering I’ve lived several places with NO electricity, and in others where we might lose it for a week or more at a time, or depended on generators a couple hours a day, at most. It IS kinda’ interesting to see just how dependent society has become, just in my lifetime. It also says something about what resources being consumed for “today’s necessities” are actually being wasted by “old time” standards.

A yellow tunnel?

There is much to be said in favor of keeping 19th century technology around — candles, kerosene lanterns and lamps, water jugs, fireplaces, ancient steam heating (or convection hot water) systems, gas stoves — it works when the power goes out. The major problems are potties and refrigeration.

Sadly, gas refrigerators are nearly extinct (maybe totally extinct, now). As long as there is minicipal water and the pipes don’t freeze, indoor plumbing (a 19th century innovation) is the only way to go (Yes, a double meaning). But if the plumbing fails, what do you do? Thunder mugs and camp-stool toilets will work for a few days, but there is a disposal problem. Oh dear! We have a problem!

Some people have backup plans for when power goes out. Actually, EVERYONE should, but we all know how that goes. I have a lantern if need be. Or flashlight. And yes, I’ve read several books in the ‘dark’ this way. I also have a kindle with a light that allows me to read, and I’ve done this as well. Because of past experiences, I have a generator, too. So my furnace will always be available. I have a well, not town water, so I need it for that, too. Unfortunately, as I recently found out, not everyone is prepared. Last autumn’s NE US storm caused blackouts over a huge area and there was an unsupportable demand for things like flashlights, batteries, etc. Some people were without power for 2 weeks. And some people really suffered because they didn’t take 10 minutes to prepare. I have all the necessities taken care of. Food stocked up, non-perishable, and a gas stove. And a heated shelter, with running water. I hope some people learned a lesson.

It’s called a flashlight, or a colmen lantern, LOL

Time to put some logs in the fireplace.

Danae just had to say those five little words no one should say, “It can’t get any worse.” Because the moment you say them, it does get worse.

Did Lucy actually say something positive in the first part of frame four? “Look on the bright side”? Remarkable!!

Braille monitor: They used something like that a few years ago on Jeopardy to accommodate a blind contestant. It worked fairly well as he shows up for Tournament of Champions whenever they run one for several seasons’ champs.

I live in all elec home, and 10 years ago an ice storm wiped out this area for elec for days. My first thought was to get a shower and shampoo before the water tank cooled. Oil lamp and candles took care of light, and put out enough heat in small room to be comfortable. Had to go out for food but streets were OK Weird storm for Oklahoma.

who’s going to get Lucy’s road apples out on the road??

Ah, yes. A reminder that WE are all connected. Wrongwingers, please note…yours stinks too.

Flashlight.

A lot of people in rural areas have propane for heat. The trick is to have the blowers on a generator.

Synonymous, actually. Rightism sometimes works…

Our toilet doesn’t flush when there is no power — well it does once and then it’s bucket time.

Pygar, only when it comes to economics, and they really aren’t that much better than weather forecasters…social conservatives are by their nature judgemental. Only people who feel superior to others judge other people……And

I just have a couple of wind up flashlights.

Any horse owner wouldn’t worry, being prepared with a flashlight.